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“Have the ‘big four’ firms become too cosy with the system they’re supposed to be keeping in check?” Yes. This was clear in 2001 during the Enron scandal. Whic

“Have the ‘big four’ firms become too cosy with the system they’re supposed to be keeping in check?” Yes. This was clear in 2001 during the Enron scandal. Which by the way triggered the collapse of one of the then-“Big Five” and created the “Big Four”. Nothing has substantially changed.

dralley 8y ago
Arthur Anderson also did accounting for WorldCom
simonebrunozzi 8y ago
You are talking about Andersen / Accenture?
- ams6110 8y ago
  Andersen used to have two main divisions. Arthur Andersen did accounting and audit, Andersen Consulting did management consulting and professional services. After Enron, Arthur Andersen folded. The partners of Andersen Consulting rebranded their business as Accenture.
  - dredmorbius 8y ago
    Your timeline and causality are incorrect. Arthur Aderson and Anderson Consulting operated separately under Andersen Worldwide Société Coopérative since 1989. The companies formally separated in August of 2000, and the Accenture name was announced in January, 2001. The Enron scandal broke in December, 2001. Accenture's timing proved fortuitous, but coincidental. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accenture https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accenture https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enron_scandal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enron_scandal
StClaire 8y ago
If anyone should have known about Enron, it was McKinsey. They were all through that place, Arthur Andersen just looked at the financial reports. AA collapsed and the government went after them, but the Supreme Court vacated AA's conviction on the grounds that the instructions given to the jury were so vague the jury could have believed AA thought they were doing everything right but still voted to convict. Since the firm was destroyed, no one bothered to retry the case. And I don't know why you say nothing substantially changed, Sarbanes-Oxley came out of that and accounting students are beat over the head with the lessons from Enron and what changed. Plus, Arthur Andersen Consulting still exists as Accenture, but they were separate companies at that point. (Accenture was actually pretty psyched because they had nothing to do with Enron, but when AA accounting and AA Consulting broke up they had a deal where the more profitable business would send a cut of their profits to the other company. Since consulting is always more profitable, AA Consulting was looking for a way out of that deal when AA accounting imploded.)

dralley 8y ago

Arthur Anderson also did accounting for WorldCom

simonebrunozzi 8y ago

You are talking about Andersen / Accenture?

ams6110 8y ago
Andersen used to have two main divisions. Arthur Andersen did accounting and audit, Andersen Consulting did management consulting and professional services. After Enron, Arthur Andersen folded. The partners of Andersen Consulting rebranded their business as Accenture.
- dredmorbius 8y ago
  Your timeline and causality are incorrect. Arthur Aderson and Anderson Consulting operated separately under Andersen Worldwide Société Coopérative since 1989. The companies formally separated in August of 2000, and the Accenture name was announced in January, 2001. The Enron scandal broke in December, 2001. Accenture's timing proved fortuitous, but coincidental. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accenture https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accenture https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enron_scandal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enron_scandal

StClaire 8y ago

If anyone should have known about Enron, it was McKinsey. They were all through that place, Arthur Andersen just looked at the financial reports. AA collapsed and the government went after them, but the Supreme Court vacated AA's conviction on the grounds that the instructions given to the jury were so vague the jury could have believed AA thought they were doing everything right but still voted to convict. Since the firm was destroyed, no one bothered to retry the case. And I don't know why you say nothing substantially changed, Sarbanes-Oxley came out of that and accounting students are beat over the head with the lessons from Enron and what changed. Plus, Arthur Andersen Consulting still exists as Accenture, but they were separate companies at that point. (Accenture was actually pretty psyched because they had nothing to do with Enron, but when AA accounting and AA Consulting broke up they had a deal where the more profitable business would send a cut of their profits to the other company. Since consulting is always more profitable, AA Consulting was looking for a way out of that deal when AA accounting imploded.)